Business Law and Ethics Case Study on Diversity

Case #1 Webb vs. City of Philadelphia
This case involves Kimberlie Webb and the City of Philadelphia (mainly the police department). The case was heard by the United States court of appeals, third circuit in 2009.

The suit was filed because Webb believed her religious rights were being decimated against. Webb is a Muslim woman who servers on the Philadelphia Police Department. Webb asked permission to wear a headdress that would not cover her face or ears due to her religious beliefs. She was disciplined for failing to comply with Police Department Directive 78 (which basically states that all officers must wear a certain uniform and dress in a certain way in order to appear uniform and unbiased).

The Philadelphia Police Department stated that in order to obtain their overall collectiveness could not allow Webb to wear her headdress because it would be obvious what her religious beliefs were and would allow citizens to see that the Police Department is impartial, meaning they could lose the trust and respect of the community.

The Judges in this case dismiss the case because for a group of people to be uniform (collectively similar) their cannot be any appearance of religion and that all those who serve must appear neutral to better server the community. Anything to separate identity could be costly when it comes to the overall good of protection.

The Judge(s) decide this because if it seems that the police department is partial then citizens may not or will not comply with the enforcement that the police are trying to achieve.

Is it ethical for the judge(s) to make this decision? In my opinion yes the judge(s) were correct in their ruling. I have always viewed the police department as an unbiased organization. Regardless of the sex or race of someone they uphold the law. I may feel intimidated by an officer who would be allowed to display their…...

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...consequences would be an oppressive and unfair scenario. Therefore, the motion for preliminary injunction was denied in favor of the defendants.
Facts:
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Plaintiff’s Theory:
The plaintiff claimed that the now former employees were in violation of their contract and has caused his business hardship, therefore they should be terminated and not allowed to work in competition with his company.
Defendant’s Theory:
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...Misty Bagwell Week 2 HCS 335
Ethics Case Study-Medical Law & Ethics
Jerry McCall is Dr. William’s office assistant. He has received professional training as both a medical assistant and a LPN. He is handling all the phone calls while the receptionist is at lunch. A patient calls and says he must have a prescription refill for Valium, an antidepressant medication, called in right away to his pharmacy, since he is leaving for the airport in thirty minutes. He says that Dr. Williams is a professional friend and always gives him a small supply of Valium when he has to fly. No one except Jerry is in the office at this time. What should he do?
First before we get into the matter we need to describe what a medical assistant’s job is and what tasks that they perform. A medical assistant’s roll is to complete the administrative and clinical tasks in the office for physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health practitioners to help make their jobs just a little bit easier. The jobs for a medical assistant will vary due to the location of a practice, the specialty of the practice, and size of the practice. A medical assistant’s job is to help a doctor with the administrative part in the office and the clinical duties so that a doctor will be able to see and receive patients a whole lot faster. A medical assistant must have graduated from an accredited program and they also have to pass a national certification exam.
Does Jerry’s medical training qualify him to...

...Selection Exercise
Dick and Jane are running an oilfield drilling business. They want to improve on the activities of the business so that they can sell it at a later date. This will be after it has improved on its activities. The business is doing well and there are several things that the business needs to change for it to be suc -cessful and be sold at a good cost. This process includes having a good strategy and by the use of advisors.
This oilfield drilling business is known by the name Harry and Sons. They want to improve the activities of the business and make the business grow in order for them to sell it afterwards. Making sure it is performing well will ensure that the selling price of the business will be good and they will not incur any losses. In order to ensure that the decisions that are going to be made in the business are good, it is very important that they first understand the vision of the business that they are operating. This will help them understand the purpose for their operation and what they are planning to be their returns after a given period of time. It is important and very critical to identify the regulatory and legal issues that are supposed to be considered in times of business modification. They should select business professionals and advisors in order for them to help in different issues. In order to do this, it is advisable to begin by hiring a lawyer.
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...if Rob was Sam, he does not want to use the leftover reinforcing steel instead of high-quality reinforcing steel. In order to gain respect, Rob should tell Sam that he cannot find reinforcing steel. Hence, other people will respect him because of his ethics and professionalism.
QUESTION 5
Answer: Rob will tell Sam that he cannot get reinforcing steel and face his difficulties. As said by virtue ethics, virtues are personal qualities that provide the basis for the individual to lead a good or happy life. Rob’s dilemma is relevant to danger or a significant personal challenge. Getting reinforcing steel is a significant personal challenge for Rob to face in this project. The moral virtue of danger or a significant personal challenge is courage. It means Rob should tell Sam that he cannot get reinforcing steel and face the difficulties, including losing his job and moving his son out privative hospital. If Rob had the corresponding vices of excess, he may use leftover reinforcing steel because of his rashness. If he had the corresponding vices of deficiency, he may do not face this dilemma because of his cowardice.
QUESTION 6
Answer: I will suggest Rob to use Kantian ethics to resolve ethical dilemma in his life. Kantian ethics focuses on one’s duty to do what is morally right and to avoid what is morally wrong, regardless of the consequences. And there are three main factors to be a normal action, including universal acceptability, respect for persons and reversibility.......

...requires that “age [be] the ‘reason’ that the employer decided to act.” Therefore the ruling was in favor for Jackson Memorial Foundation. Mora appealed the decision
ISSUE– Did Jackson Memorial Foundation, Inc. wrongfully terminate Josephine Mora because of her age which is a direct violation for wrongful termination under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act or is mixed motive a defense?
DECISION – The court reversed the summary judgment and remanded the case because there is a dispute of material fact, which is for a jury to decide.
REASON - Mixed motive is not a defense. The court concluded that a reasonable juror could accept that Rodriguez made the discriminatory-sounding remarks and that the remarks are sufficient evidence of a discriminatory motive which was the “but for” cause of Plaintiff’s dismissal. Direct or circumstantial evidence of discrimination in an ADEA claim may “establish a claim of illegal age discrimination through either direct evidence or circumstantial evidence. Landmark cases such as Damon v. Fleming Supermarkets of Fla., Inc. (11th Cir. 1999), it was concluded that an employer’s statement that he wanted “‘aggressive, young men’ like himself to be promoted” was circumstantial evidence of discrimination, were cited. Also cited was, Alphin v. Sears, Roebuck & Co. (11th Cir. 1991) a finding remark by supervisor to plaintiff that he had “been around too long and [was] too old and [was] making too much money” immediately after a......

...Written Assignment 4
In this case study, Raymond Smith purchases a new car from an unnamed dealer. When Mr. Smith purchased this car, he signed a contract that specifically limited liability for personal injuries as a result of defect in the car, and limiting the solution for any breach of warranty to repair or replace the defective part(s). Unfortunately, one month after purchasing the car Mr. Smith was seriously injured due to an accident in the car caused by a defect in the steering mechanism of the car.
Following the crash, Mr. Smith decides that he would like to sue the dealer for breach of warranty; however the dealer defends this action by relying on the contract disclaimer. Despite having specific language in the contract which limits the dealers liability, [UCC 2-314(1), 2A-212(1)] explicitly shows that good may come with an implied warranty. In this instance, there is an implied warranty on the car that it must perform the normal actions of a new car. These actions may be proper steering, braking, etc. According to the UCC, “goods must be fit for the ordinary purpose for which they are used”. Mr. Smith purchased a car expecting it to be able to be used as a car normally does, in this case simply driving/steering. Due to the defect in the steering mechanism, the car was not fit for the ordinary purposes of which it would normally be used.
Taking into account that Mr. Smith sustained serious injuries in this crash, it is safe to assume that the car had......

...Unit 7 Case Analysis
Certain types of employment require specific genders or qualifications from its employees. Although these types of requirements and discretionary procedures are not well favored by all and could be seen as discriminating, certain jobs and job-related situations would make the employers justified in their practices.
Under Title VII and other various acts, employers are prohibited from discriminating against employees on the basis of gender. Discrimination in employment based on gender occurs when employers classify jobs as male or female, advertise in help-wanted columns designated male or female, or make separate lists of male and female seniority (Miller & Jentz, 2008, pg. 481). The plaintiff attempting to file suit must prove that gender was a determining factor in the employer’s decision to hire, fire or promote him or her while the employer must prove that the gender of the employee or applicant is essential to the job (Miller & Jentz, 2008, pg. 481).
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed to prohibit employers in engaging in gender-based wage discrimination. For this act’s rule to apply, the female and male employees must work at the same establishment doing similar work. This doesn’t mean that the particular jobs have to be identical in nature. The jobs do need to have substantial similarities in the equality of required skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions for them to qualify. When courts decide if the Equal Pay Act has been......

...emotional pain. Kimport, Foster and Weitz (2011) indicate “women without prior mental health problems experience post abortion distress” (p. 103). Abortion promotes self-punishment thoughts in their minds. “The medical termination of pregnancy increases the risk of having additional abortions in the future” (Norman et al., 2013, p.1). In case of rape or abuse, we have to punish the perpetrator. “Abortion punishes the child, it is same as a response to the crime of father” (Stephens et al., 2010, p.515). Many people have lifelong regrets later on in their life. “These regrets increase the risk of suicide thoughts in women after abortion” (Mota et al., 2010, p.245). Sometimes parents of teen and single girls force them to get abortion. “Abortion helps families prevent humiliation and shame in the public eye” (Dahlback et al., 2010, p. 256). In some cultures women feel extremely pressured to abort a fetus due to the sex of the child. They are under tremendous stress to give birth to males in order to carry on the family name and if they are unable to produce a male heir they are often physically or emotionally abused by their husband or in-laws. “Abortion shows inequalities and disparities of women face world wide” (Abrejo et al., 2010, p.10). Abusive male partners control
ABORTION 4
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...Kacey Pierre
July 31, 2012
HSC 4652
Case #6
As providers and health care professionals, there will be many times when we will be faced with decisions that need to be made in the best interest of the patient. Moreover, there may be rare occasions when we will have to make decisions in order to protect a patient’s dignity or self esteem. Although the primary goal as providers and health care professionals is to deliver quality healthcare to patients while honoring autonomy and honesty and keeping the patient thoroughly informed, in special cases such as this one, it is a more beneficial to the patient for the provider to refrain from disclosing his current health condition to him.
This case was about a 69 year old male that is diagnosed with cancer of the prostate, at which point, is inoperable and incurable. He has no living relatives, his wife is passed away, and he estranged from his children. This patient has proven incapable of making sound decisions when he is presented with devastating news. He is neurotic and has a history of psychiatric disease. He had previously attempted suicide and suffered from serious depression for a long period of time both after receiving news of his wife’s death and anytime he is informed of any serious health problems.
Under normal circumstances, a physician or any healthcare provider is required to keep the patient fully informed of their health condition, whether it be good or bad. We as professionals are required to respect a......

...utilitarianism.
* Kantian Ethics
Based on Kantian Ethics, the duty of the radio station is to gain listeners by letting listeners enjoy listening to the radio station and also have a higher rating as compared to other radio stations. To be morally permissible, the rule: ‘if I were to broadcast this prank call, I will be able to entertain listeners and gain higher ratings.’ is able to conform to the categorical imperative of universal acceptability (Low, 2013). We can will this to be universal because that is the duty of a radio station and universally, anyone with the duty of a radio station will accept this rule. But by broadcasting the prank call does not conform to the second imperative of respect which is using the nurse as the focus of the prank call to entertain the listeners of the radio (Low, 2013). The duty of the nurse is to take care of patients and administrative work in the hospital. She would have no link to the entertainment industry, unlike music which the main purpose or duty is for entertainment, radio station will be able to use music as a mean to entertain listeners and still conform to the imperative of respect. Thus the nurse is simply the means of the duty to entertain listeners if the radio station were to broadcast the prank call. Therefore by only conforming to the imperative of universal acceptability and not conforming to the imperative of respect, the radio station should not broadcast the prank call.
* Virtue Ethics
The virtue......

...The University of Rummidge organises a conference entitled "Law for small Businesses" which is followed by a luncheon at the Grand Hotel. Jim, a law lecturer, is a speaker at the conference and the conference is attended by Albert who has just started a graphic design business and Percy a well-established market gardener.
At the conference Albert meets Barry, a fellow student from University days, whom he has not seen for some time. During lunch, while discussing pension investments, Barry tells Albert that if he (Albert) invests some money in Dunmore Limited (of which Barry is a director), he will obtain a good return on his investment. As a result of this advice, Albert subsequently purchases 20,000 £1 shares in Dunmore Limited. A few months later Dunmore Limited goes into liquidation and Albert loses his money.
After the conference Jim, returns to his office in the Law Faculty and finds a student from the Campus Law Centre waiting for him to request him to deal with a client's problem. Jim has agreed to support the students' efforts to provide free legal advice at the Centre and the problem concerns a claim by a Mrs Smith on her insurance policy. Jim speaks to Mrs Smith and advises her that she cannot claim but unfortunately he has failed to note an important change in the law six months earlier which affects her position. Some months later, Mrs Smith reads a story in the newspaper where someone has succeeded in identical circumstances to her own. However, it is......

...pregnant or returning from maternity leave (Marx 2011, p. 1). Subsequently, both employees have initiated legal action against Virgin Blue who ‘has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to fight the claims’ (Marx 2011, p. 2).
The article raises three ethical issues. Firstly, it addresses the expectation that businesses should not discriminate against employees on the basis of gender (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell 2009, p. 70). Secondly, it highlights that abusive or intimidating behaviour is not acceptable in the workplace (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell 2009, p. 64). Thirdly, it identifies the role that an effective ethics program can play in avoiding ethical and legal problems (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell 2009, p. 212).
Businesses should not discriminate against employees on the basis of gender. Discrimination refers to ‘the making of a difference in particular cases, as in favour of or against a person or thing, especially when arising from prejudice based on race, ethnicity, sex, religion, age etc’ (Discrimination 2011). Virgin Blue allegedly discriminated against Leonie Vandeven by forcing her to take a redundancy package after she confirmed that she was pregnant (Marx 2011, p. 2). Vandeven was made redundant despite receiving a performance review, which rated her as ‘highly effective’ (Marx 2011, p. 2). Similarly, Kirsty Aitken was forced to take a redundancy package after returning from maternity leave (Marx 2011, p. 2).
The female employees ‘had worked together as......

...Business Ethics Case Study
Peter Paulson's offer to provide the previous case documents to Steven Craig is professionally unethical but morally permissible. In addition, I believe that the offer was not theft but possession by entitlement and permission. His actions are a great example of how professional ethics and morals don't always align in the analysis of a case.
Part (1)
Peter Paulson's offer although helpful commits the Texas Board of Professional Engineers code. As an expert witness for a previous case against PPC, Peter Paulson was exposed to certain documents which would help with the current case against the same company. The code states in 137.63.c.4 that "The engineer shall not give, offer or promise to pay or deliver, directly or indirectly, any commission, gift, favor, gratuity, benefit, or reward as an inducement to secure any specific engineering work or assignment." In Peter's case he was asked to "secure specific engineering work" for a fee. The practice of sharing the public documents is legal and professionally ethical but when a fee is procured for the transaction the act becomes unethical. The documents in both cases were public because they were documents of court which could be obtained by any lawyer. When Peter placed a fee on documents that were public his actions were in violation of the code and made his offer professionally unethical.
Part (II)
Table 1. Line drawling of "The Offer" showing non-theft (Peter's perspective)......

...BA 310
Case Study #1
In any business instances whether it be directly dealing with money, or any type of contract or agreement it is imperative to have trust between the two parties. This is to ensure that the process is successful and handled correctly. In the case study Madoff gained an insane amount of investors by promising them they would have a guaranteed return on their investment. Later on, the investors figured out that the money they invested was in fact put towards a fake company resulting in no return on the investment after all. Greed is very apparent in this study as shown all throughout the case. Greed is the obsessive desire to want money far beyond the basic survival and comfort. This definition sums up Madoff and his ill intentions completely. Ponzi schemes are still very prevalent in today’s society. Although the consequences of the scheme are very harsh and scary, the con artist still believe they are able to come out with a better outcome if they follow through with the scheme. Ponzi scheme’s are a form of fraud in which belief in the success of a nonexistent enterprise is fostered by the payment of quick returns to the first investors from money invested by later investors. Charles Ponzi first introduced the Ponzi scheme to the American public. Simplicity] is the trait that seems to make all of this easier and more gullible to believe. There have been several people that attempted to this act of scheming. Martin......

...Written Assignment 4
Case Study
A dealer sold a new car to Raymond Smith. The sales contract contained language expressly disclaiming liability for personal injuries caused as a result of defects in the car and limiting the remedy for breach of warranty to repair or replacement of the defective part. One month after purchasing the auto, Smith was seriously injured when the car veered off the road and into a ditch as a result of a defect in the steering mechanism of the car.
* If Smith sues the dealer for breach of warranty and the dealer defends by relying on the contract disclaimer, what would be the result and why?
* In your essay, be sure to cite information on warranty and UCC Article 2.
For buyers who have returned a product that simply didn’t work, they have benefited from the implied warrant of merchantability. This warranty guarantees that a product sold by a merchant will work when it’s used for its intended purposes. That is what’s called an “implied warranty” meaning it exists without a need to be written or spoken. A commercial seller does not have to tell a buyer that the product is guaranteed to work for its usual purpose because the law itself creates that warranty.
The Implied Warranty of Merchantability falls under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) 2-314. The warranty is based off the idea that the seller should know whether a product will perform properly or not and encourages sellers to focus on quality assurance before putting products on......